Friday, July 8, 2011

Wed night the adult youth team chose 1 thing that they would want to say to the students if they knew they would NEVER see them again. It was really hard to come up with a sentence but here is what we came up with.

//Tomorrow is promised to no one, so what choice are you going to make today

//Find out who it is that God says you are, then believe it - live it out!
//God allows us to struggle in order to learn lessons we couldn't experience any other way
//Acknowledge Him in all your ways & he will direct your path (pr 3:5-6)

//Stay REAL! Dont imitate, ...Duplicate. BE yourself and LOVE yourself, and know that the only one that can JUDGE you is Jesus Christ, himself.
//Don't lose heart! Trials are temporary, focus on eternity (2 cor 4:16-18)

//You are not an accident. God has a very special purpose and plan for your life. He loves you unconditionally and wants to help you live out His purpose for your life.

//Life is full of choices, choose wisely.
//You WILL stand before God and give an account for the way you live this life

My point: you never know when the last time you see someone is the last time you will see them. We challenged them to make every encounter one that they would be ok being remembered that way.

After we presented our "1 thing" we had some of the students share the 1 thing they would say to someone if they knew they would never see them again and I was BLOWN AWAY.

These students are incredible and we as a team, are honored and humbled to be part of such amazing people.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Each Wed at youth we have a time set aside to share "check your pulse" moments.

The youth name is Pulse and we have decided to help students focus on the time between opportunity and decision. In that brief moment of time we are trying to give them so many questions that they can ask themselves before they make a decision. We want them to pause long enough to "check their pulse" and run the decision thru a few questions then make a wise decision.

A lot of times when we talk to someone after making a bad decision, we ask them "what were you thinking?" and they typically respond with "I have no idea". So we just want them to pause, check their pulse and then hopefully make a good choice.

Anyway, last night we had a student stand up and tell how he was at a party and he was being encouraged to smoke marijuana. The guy he went to the party with decided he didn't want to be around that stuff and was leaving. Now he was left with only the people who wanted him to smoke it but he said he had a "check your pulse" moment and decided that this is not the best thing for him to do. Instead of smoking, he found his friend and they left together.

I am so proud of these guys. I am equally proud of the environment this team has created to allow students to feel comfortable enough to stand up and share personal stories without fear of being judged.

My point: we all go thru junk & hard times. I think it is sad that we don't feel comfortable enough to ask for help or choose not to open up in fear of being judged instead of helped.

I am so encouraged to see the LifeChange that is taking place in these students & adult leaders - well done team!